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Apple slips 0.5% in PC share over summer

updated 11:30 am EST, Tue December 23, 2008

by MacNN Staff

iSuppli on Q3 Notebooks

Despite a major shift from desktops towards notebooks in the summer, Apple slid slid significantly in its worldwide market share over the period, according to a new iSuppli study. The MacBook creator lost exactly a half percentage point of influence and dropped from 3.7 percent of the market in the spring to 3.2 percent the following season, leaving it at seventh place. Most incumbents were stable and saw HP lead world market share with 18.8 percent, or 14.9 million PCs; Dell claimed 13.9 percent, while Acer, Lenovo and Toshiba managed 12.2 percent, 7.5 percent and 4.6 percent each.

The research group doesn't explain Apple's shortfall, though the poorer performance arrived late into the lifecycle of early 2008 MacBook models. Acer, in contrast, is characterized as the fastest mover and grew 79 percent year over year helped in part by its shift towards netbooks like the Aspire One. ASUS has also moved quickly both through the use of the Eee PC line and its general focus on notebooks to claim sixth place above Apple.

iSuppli also notes that notebook shipments have allegedly topped those of desktops for the first time during a summer quarter, with 38.6 million portables just slightly edging out 38.5 million desktops. The shift is described as a virtue of "momentum" towards portables and through cost that lets many users afford these systems that couldn't before.

of Apple. This significant drop in Mac sales is undoubtedly the tip of the iceberg. Most of sort of figured Apple's grab of market share would only last temporarily. The netbooks are starting to push Apple back to negative growth rates. Well it guess it's rather fitting, very few cults ever outlive their founders.

...a lack of compelling, timely upgrades. Stripping features from iBook (no firewire) spelled a no-purchase-for-me cycle. I'll be damned if I'm going to pay 700-800 premium for firewire, and I can't afford to replace all my consumer grade firewire stuff (three cameras, two firewire A/D mic inputs. So, I just simply won't upgrade, even though the speed increase would be nice. This is something Jobs doesn't get; one size fits all when there are very few die-hards who share the same needs/desires. Increase the market share and you naturally need to address a wider variety of needs. Simple, and I'm surprised that Jobs doesn't get it.

Epple still thinks they can sell their simple PC computers for $700 and at the same time have their own standards that forces people to buy a new computer a year later when the market had stepped on since you cant buy a standard card/device and use it on your latest apple PC. Its like your going with you car when the fuel is started to empty and you realize that the hole that you stick the pipe of the fuel handle into have a k*** preventing the fuel pipe to enter the hole, THIS IS APPLE. You cant buy FREE stuff from others and use it. You can only buy it apple way and have to pay way more for the pc c*** they sell. Wake up people - GET FREEEEEEEEE.

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